Shake it off, Shake it all off :D

All good things must come to an end and our league unbeaten streak did so at the hands of AFC Hornchurch at home on Saturday afternoon. It was by no means a vintage Darts performance and we were poor for large periods of the game but in a way perhaps it may signal a mental turning point for us this season.

Gone is the pressure of having to win every game which could be interpreted as a bad thing by some but in my opinion sometimes the pressure can get to you. I stopped playing football last year but the season before last, i was lucky enough to be captain of a team that lost only twice the entire season on our way to the Bexley C Division East U15 title :D. It was brilliant for me to be a part of the squad that kept on winning and grinding out results, but sometimes, even subconsciously, an air of invincibility crept into our minds and whenever we came against a team who were up for it from the off and put us under real pressure, we tended to panic. We weren't supposed to lose.

Our first loss taught me a lot. Firstly, that mental preparedness plays a huge part in determining the result of a game. A team who are 150% fired up for a game have got a better chance of winning in my opinion than a better team who are only 50% up for it. Secondly, a loss gives you a chance to really appreciate a victory the next time around and in a way, helps you to reset your mind. Thirdly and finally, a loss isn't the worst thing in the world. It has to happen to someone and undoubtedly it will happen to you, the main thing is to shake it off, learn from your mistakes and get back to winning ways.

Lest we forget, we are still top of the league, with the best squad in the league, the biggest fan base in the league and the best stadium in the league. I'd say we've still got a lot going for us :)

Dartford vs. Dover - The Motion Picture

The videos are up and in high definition quality :)

In Focus - Danny Harris

This week my player In Focus is Danny Harris. He's been with The Darts for about a month and a half after joining us on a dual registration contract with Hertfordshire Blue Square South side Bishop's Stortford and thus far it looks to be another shrewd bit of business by Darts boss Tony Burman.

Harris caught all our eyes from Day 1 when he sealed the deal against our arch-rivals Tonbridge with a brilliant curling shot into the bottom corner after coming on as a substitute. From then on he's continued in terrific goalscoring vain and currently has 5 goals in 7 starts.

Harris in my opinion has all the traits of a good striker. He's got a good turn of pace, he knows where the goal is and most importantly he has the determination and engine to boot. I've always felt that the big man, little man combo is one of the most lethal strike combinations in football and that this season, despite having arguably the best strike force in the league, we didn't have that. For me Haworth, May and Burns are all similar types of players; strong, well built and hard-working but I've always said the addition of a pacey striker in combination with those three would destroy any defence in the league. Not only is Harris pacey, but he's an adept finisher and will work equally as hard as the "target men" as shown by his exploits against Dover. He's a definite BSS quality striker, and I'm glad we've got him on board. Hopefully if he does well this season, TB will look to put him on a permanent deal for next season.

Coming Up on the Blog

I'm glad to announce that there'll be quite a lot of new content hitting the blog in the coming days beginning tonight with the live première of Dartford v Dover - The Motion Picture :D

The trailer was out yesterday and is post below for those of you who haven't sent it but basically its just a little video I put together of the "Ultras" day out against Dover.

Secondly I'll be putting up a weekly feature I'm aptly naming, "In Focus". In this little segment I'll be giving an introduction to the player, how he's doing so far and what I like about him.

Thanks all for your readership, it's much appreciated believe me. Also thank you to my first official blogger follower for subscribing :D

Dartford - Dover

So much to talk about with Saturday - video will help me to do some of the talking :)

Dartford - Dover Pre Match

So we're off. Unfortunetly no news of teams or anything like that but just for the record here's mine.

Young
Burgess Coyle Beales Gross

Hayes White Burns Noble

Harris May/Haworth

Whatever way you look at it, that's still a pretty strong squad out there. Hopefully they can "do the business" and cause some trouble to the Dover who will probably be quite reared up for this one having lost quite a few domestically in the BSS themselves. A tough game against Bognor gave us a bit of a reality check and i feel that the Borehamwood game would have been a good test and a chance to get confidence back but it'll all come down to how much the players put in today.

That's all for now. I've got to rush to get the train to St. Pancras and then get the Eurostar to Douvre so I better get moving if i wanna be in France before kick-off :) Bon voyage!!!

The Three Flags

Just some quick pics of my three newest polyester friends :)



An sign of good international relations between us and our hosts on Saturday




To celebrate our crossing of the finish line at the end of the year (hopefully with the title in the bag)



The Regional Flag of Dartfordia County ;)